CN113519130B

CN113519130B - User equipment coordinated aggregate beam scanning

Info

Publication number: CN113519130B
Application number: CN202080018825.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王继兵; 埃里克·理查德·施陶费尔
Original assignee: Google LLC
Current assignee: Google LLC
Priority date: 2019-03-12
Filing date: 2020-03-12
Publication date: 2024-03-08
Anticipated expiration: 2040-03-12
Also published as: US11889322B2; CN113519130A; EP3928436B1; US20220141676A1; EP3928436A1; WO2020186097A1

Abstract

This document describes techniques and apparatuses for User Equipment Coordinated Set (UECS) beam scanning. In some aspects, a User Equipment (UE) receives (425) an indication to coordinate beam scanning with a UECS. The UEs direct (430) each UE in the UECS to perform a beam training procedure by receiving a set of downlink beam transmissions and forward (515) the beam report information to the base station. In an embodiment, a UE receives (530) an indication of one or more beam identities and one or more allocated time slots, and directs (540) at least two UEs in a UECS to use a particular beam indicated by the beam identity at a particular time slot indicated by the allocated time slot, such as by transmitting a respective beam identity and a respective time slot to each of the at least two UEs.

Description

User equipment coordinated aggregate beam scanning

Background

Typically, a provider of a wireless network manages wireless communications over the wireless network. For example, a base station of a provider manages wireless connections with User Equipment (UE) served by a wireless network. The base station determines the configuration of the wireless connection, such as the bandwidth, timing, and other parameters of the wireless connection.

The quality of service between the UE and the base station can be reduced due to many factors, such as obstructions causing loss of signal strength, bandwidth limitations, interfering signals, etc. Many solutions have been developed to improve signal quality problems that occur in certain wireless communication systems. However, these solutions are not sufficient in cases where the UE has limited received or transmitted signal quality due to signal interference, distance from the base station, or attenuation from weather or objects such as buildings or trees.

Disclosure of Invention

This document describes techniques and apparatuses for user equipment to coordinate aggregate beam scanning. The techniques described herein overcome the challenges of jointly transmitting and receiving uplink and downlink data by a set of UEs forming a coordinated set of UEs. These challenges come from conventional beam scanning procedures. In particular, the techniques described herein enable coordinated beam scanning by multiple UEs within a coordinated set of UEs to provide a link budget.

In aspects, a User Equipment (UE) receives an indication to coordinate beam scanning with a User Equipment Coordination Set (UECS). The UE directs each UE in the UECS to perform a beam training procedure by receiving a set of downlink beam transmissions and forwards the beam report information forwards to the base station. In an embodiment, a UE receives an indication of one or more beam identities and one or more allocated time slots, and directs at least two UEs in a UECS to use a particular beam indicated by the beam identity at a particular time slot indicated by the allocated time slot, such as by transmitting a respective beam identity and a respective time slot to each of the at least two UEs.

In some aspects, a base station transmits an indication to a coordinating UE in a UECS to coordinate beam scanning with the UECS. The base station then transmits a set of downlink beam transmissions covering the spatial region according to the pre-specified time interval and direction. In an embodiment, a base station receives beam quality information from UECS beam reporting information indicating beam quality information for at least two UEs of the UECS based on a downlink beam transmission set. The base station then selects one or more beam identities specifying a particular beam and one or more time slots to be used by the at least two UEs based on the beam reporting information. In an embodiment, a base station directs at least two UEs to use a particular beam indicated by one or more beam identities at a particular time slot indicated by one or more allocated time slots, such as by transmitting an indication of one or more beam identities and one or more time slots to at least two UEs.

The details of one or more implementations are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features and advantages will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims. This summary is provided to introduce a selection of subject matter that is further described in the detailed description and drawings. Thus, this summary should not be considered to describe essential features, nor should it be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Drawings

Details of one or more aspects of techniques and apparatus for UE-coordinated aggregate beam scanning are described below. In the description and in the different examples of the drawings, like elements are indicated with the same reference numerals:

fig. 1 illustrates an example operating environment in which aspects of UE coordinated aggregate beam scanning can be implemented.

Fig. 2 illustrates an exemplary device diagram of a user equipment and a serving cell base station.

Fig. 3 illustrates an example embodiment of a UE coordination set.

Fig. 4 depicts a diagram that illustrates a communication process between a target UE, a coordinating UE, and a base station for coordinating beam scanning in a coordinated set of UEs.

Fig. 5 continues from fig. 4 and illustrates a process for a base station to coordinate beam scanning of a UE coordination set.

Fig. 6 continues from fig. 4 and illustrates a process for coordinating UEs to coordinate beam scanning of a UE coordination set.

Fig. 7 illustrates an example method of UE-coordinated aggregate beam scanning in accordance with aspects employing the techniques described herein.

Fig. 8 illustrates an exemplary method of UE-coordinated aggregate beam scanning in accordance with aspects of the techniques described herein.

Detailed Description

SUMMARY

In conventional wireless communication systems, signal quality between a User Equipment (UE) and a base station can be reduced due to a number of factors such as signal interference or distance between the UE and the base station, resulting in slower and less efficient data transmission. In order to improve signal quality, techniques for forming a coordinated set of UEs for joint transmission and reception have been developed to facilitate faster and more efficient data transmission compared to conventional wireless communication systems. For the benefit of a particular UE, a UE coordination set is formed by multiple UEs allocated as a group to function together, similar to a distributed antenna. The UE coordination set includes coordination UEs that coordinate the joint transmission and reception of uplink and/or downlink data for a particular UE (e.g., a target UE). By combining the antennas and transmitters of multiple UEs in a coordinated set of UEs, the effective transmission power of a particular UE is significantly increased and the effective signal quality is greatly improved.

Multiple UEs forming a UE coordination set specified by a base station can be used to increase the link budget of individual UEs in the UE coordination set. In one example, multiple UEs carried by a group of pedestrians in a low radio coverage area can form a UE coordination set to transmit messages to a base station at a potentially more efficient transmit power than a single UE in the area. In addition, those UEs can form a coordinated set of UEs to receive messages from the base station for one of the UEs at a potentially more efficient received power than for that one UE alone. One of the plurality of UEs acts as a coordinating UE for the UE coordination set to coordinate joint transmission of uplink data for the particular UE. However, coordination of beam scanning techniques performed by each UE within a coordinated set of UEs can be challenging, at least because different UEs in the coordinated set of UEs can transmit or receive data on various beams and slots.

In another example, a single user may have multiple electronic devices, such as a work smart phone, a personal smart phone, and a 5G start watch (smart watch). When the three devices are in a challenging wireless environment (e.g., large signal attenuation due to noise bursts, concrete walls, high-rise buildings, mountains, long distances from the base station, etc.), they may form a coordinated set of UEs for joint transmission and reception of data. By forming a coordinated set of UEs, the working smart phones, personal smart phones, and smart watches can transmit or receive messages to or from the base station at a higher effective transmit or receive power than either of the smart phones or smart watches alone can achieve. The work smart phone, personal smart phone, and/or smart watch may also form a UE coordination set with one or more other devices (e.g., tablet, smart home appliance, internet of things device) in the home to further increase the effective transmit and/or receive power of the work smart phone, personal smart phone, or smart watch.

In some aspects, a method performed by a UE for coordinating beam scanning for a plurality of User Equipments (UEs) is disclosed. The method comprises the following steps: a request is received from a base station to act as a coordinating UE for coordinating beam scanning between UEs within a coordinated set of UEs and the base station. The method further comprises the steps of: in response to an indication of uplink or downlink data to be jointly transmitted or received by the UE coordination set, a message is provided over the local wireless network connection to UEs within the UE coordination set that directs the UEs to perform a beam training procedure to identify beams to be used for communication with the base station. The method further comprises the steps of: information is received indicating beams available to one or more UEs within a coordinated set of UEs. In addition, the method includes assigning a beam Identification (ID) and an assigned time slot to each UE within the coordinated set of UEs. The method also includes transmitting, over the local wireless network connection, a beam ID and an assigned time slot to a corresponding UE in the UE coordination set, the beam ID and the assigned time slot effective to enable the UE in the UE coordination set to coordinate beam scanning for joint communication with the base station.

In some aspects, a method performed by a base station for coordinating beam scanning for a plurality of User Equipments (UEs) is disclosed. The method comprises the following steps: multiple UEs are directed to form a coordinated set of UEs for jointly transmitting or receiving data with a base station. The method further comprises the steps of: beams are determined that are available for communication by one or more UEs within the coordinated set of UEs. The method further includes designating one or more time slots and one or more beam Identifications (IDs) to be used by UEs within the coordinated set of UEs for joint transmission or reception of data, each of the one or more beam IDs corresponding to a particular beam direction for a particular UE for transmitting data to or receiving data from the base station. In addition, the method includes: an indication of one or more slots and one or more beam IDs is transmitted to one or more UEs within a coordinated set of UEs to coordinate beam scanning of the plurality of UEs for joint transmission or reception of data.

In some aspects, a UE is disclosed that includes a processor and a memory system. The processor and memory system include instructions executable to receive a message from a coordinating UE in a coordinated set of UEs over a local wireless network connection, the message directing the UE to perform a beam training procedure to identify beams to be used for joint communication with a base station, the joint communication including joint transmission of uplink data for a target UE in the coordinated set of UEs or joint reception of downlink data for the target UE. The instructions may also be executable to perform a beam training process to identify a beam that reports a result of the beam training process to the coordinating UE over the local wireless network connection, and receive a beam Identification (ID) and an assigned time slot over the local wireless network connection for communication with the base station. The instructions are further executable to initiate uplink or downlink communications using a beam corresponding to the beam ID and the allocated time slot to transmit uplink data for a target UE in the coordinated set of UEs or to receive downlink data for the target UE.

In some aspects, a UE is disclosed that includes a processor and a memory system. The processor and memory system include instructions executable to provide a message to a UE within a coordinated set of UEs over a local wireless network connection. In some aspects, the message directs the UE to perform a beam training procedure to identify a beam for communication with the base station. The instructions are also executable to: receiving information indicating available beams for UEs within a coordinated set of UEs; and assigning a beam Identification (ID) and an assigned slot to each UE within the coordinated set of UEs. The instructions are further executable to transmit, over the local wireless network connection, beam IDs and assigned time slots to corresponding UEs within the coordinated set of UEs, the beam IDs and assigned time slots effective to enable UEs within the coordinated set of UEs to coordinate beam scanning for joint communication with the base station.

In some aspects, a base station is disclosed that includes at least a processor and a memory system. The processor and memory system include executable instructions to: directing a plurality of UEs to form a UE coordination set; determining beams available for communication with UEs within a coordinated set of UEs; and designating one or more slots and one or more beam Identifications (IDs) to be used by UEs within the UE coordination set for joint transmission or reception of data. In some aspects, the one or more beam IDs each correspond to a particular beam direction for a particular UE for transmitting data to or receiving data from the base station. The instructions are further executable to transmit, to one or more UEs within the UE coordination set, an indication of the one or more slots and the one or more beam IDs to coordinate beam scanning of the plurality of UEs for joint transmission or reception of data.

In some aspects, a User Equipment (UE) receives an indication to coordinate beam scanning with a User Equipment Coordination Set (UECS). The UE directs each UE in the UECS to perform a beam training procedure by receiving a set of downlink beam transmissions and forwards beam reporting information to the base station. In an embodiment, a UE receives one or more beam identities and an indication of one or more allocated time slots, and directs at least two UEs in a UECS to use a particular beam indicated by the beam identity at a particular time slot indicated by the allocated time slot, such as by transmitting a respective beam identity and a respective time slot to each of the at least two UEs.

In some aspects, a base station transmits an indication to a coordinating UE in a UECS to coordinate beam scanning with the UECS. The base station then transmits a set of downlink beam transmissions covering the spatial region according to the pre-specified time interval and direction. In an embodiment, a base station receives beam reporting information from a UECS, the beam reporting information indicating beam quality information for at least two UEs in the UECS, the beam quality information being based on a downlink beam transmission set. The base station then selects one or more beam identities specifying a particular beam and one or more time slots to be used by the at least two UEs based on the beam reporting information. In an embodiment, the base station directs the at least two UEs to use a particular beam indicated by one or more beam identities at a particular time slot indicated by one or more allocated time slots, such as by transmitting an indication of one or more beam identities and one or more time slots to the at least two UEs.

Example Environment

Fig. 1 illustrates an example environment 100 that includes a plurality of user equipment 110 (UE 110), illustrated as UE 111, UE 112, and UE 113. Each UE 110 is capable of communicating with base station 120 (illustrated as base stations 121, 122, 123, and 124) over wireless communication link 130 (wireless link 130) (illustrated as wireless links 131 and 132). Each UE 110 in the UE coordination set is capable of being connected by one or more local wireless networks (e.g., personal area network, near Field Communication (NFC), bluetooth) such as local wireless network connections 133, 134, and 135 ^TM Sonar, radar, lidar, zigBee ^TM ) And communicating with the coordination UE in the UE coordination set and/or the target UE in the UE coordination set. For simplicity, UE110 is implemented as a smart phone, but may also be implemented as any suitable computing device or electronic device, such as a mobile watch, mobile communication device, modem, cellular phone, gaming device, navigation device, media device, laptop computer, desktop computer, tablet computer, smart appliance, vehicle-based communication system, internet of things (IoT) device (e.g., sensor node, controller/actuator node, or a combination thereof), and so forth. The base station 120 (e.g., evolved universal terrestrial radio access network node B, E-UTRAN node B, evolved node B, eNodeB, eNB, next generation node B, gnnode B, gNB, etc.) may be implemented in a macrocell, microcell, small cell, picocell, etc., or any combination thereof.

Base station 120 communicates with UE110 over wireless links 131 and 132, which may be implemented as any suitable type of wireless links. Wireless links 131 and 132 include control and data communications such as a downlink of data and control information transmitted from base station 120 to UE110, an uplink of other data and control information transmitted from UE110 to base station 120, or both. Wireless link 130 may include one or more wireless links (e.g., radio links) or bearers implemented using any suitable communication protocol or standard, or combination of communication protocols or standards, such as 3 rd generation partnership project long term evolution (3 GPP LTE), fifth generation new radio (5G NR), etc. Multiple radio links 130 may be aggregated in carrier aggregation to provide higher data rates for UE 110. The plurality of wireless links 130 from the plurality of base stations 120 may be configured for coordinated multipoint (CoMP) communication with the UE 110. In addition, the plurality of wireless links 130 may be configured for single-RAT dual connectivity or multi-RAT dual connectivity (MR-DC). Each of these various multi-link scenarios tends to increase the power consumption of UE 110.

The base stations 120 collectively form a radio access network 140 (e.g., RAN, evolved universal terrestrial radio access network, E-UTRAN, 5G NR RAN, or NR RAN). RAN 140 is illustrated as NR RAN 141 and E-UTRAN 142. Base stations 121 and 123 in NR RAN 141 are connected to a fifth generation core 150 (5 gc 150) network. The base stations 122 and 124 in the E-UTRAN 142 are connected to an evolved packet core 160 (EPC 160). Alternatively or additionally, the base station 122 may be connected to both the 5gc 150 and EPC 160 networks.

The base stations 121 and 123 are connected to the 5gc 150 at 101 and 102, respectively, through NG2 interface for control plane signaling and using NG3 interface for user plane data communication. Base stations 122 and 124 are connected to EPC 160 at 103 and 104, respectively, using an S1 interface for control plane signaling and user plane data communications. Alternatively or additionally, if the base station 122 is connected to the 5gc 150 and EPC 160 network, then at 180 the base station 122 uses the NG2 interface for control plane signaling and is connected to the 5gc 150 through the NG3 interface for user plane data communications.

In addition to the connection to the core network, the base stations 120 may communicate with each other. For example, base stations 121 and 123 communicate at 105 over an Xn interface, and base stations 122 and 124 communicate at 106 over an X2 interface. At least one base station 120 (base station 121 and/or base station 123) in NR RAN 141 is capable of communicating with at least one base station 120 (base station 122 and/or base station 124) in E-UTRAN 142 using Xn interface 107. In some aspects, base stations 120 in different RANs (e.g., the master base station 120 of each RAN) communicate with each other using an Xn interface, such as Xn interface 107.

The 5gc 150 includes an access and mobility management function 152 (AMF 152) that provides control plane functions such as registration and authentication, authorization, and mobility management of multiple UEs 110 in a 5G NR network. EPC 160 includes a mobility management entity 162 (MME 162) that provides control plane functions such as registration and authentication, authorization, or mobility management for multiple UEs 110 in an E-UTRA network. The AMF 152 and MME 162 communicate with the base station 120 in the RAN 140 and also communicate with the plurality of UEs 110 using the base station 120.

Example apparatus

Fig. 2 illustrates an example device diagram 200 of a user equipment and a serving cell base station. In some aspects, the device diagram 200 describes a device capable of implementing aspects of a technique for UE-coordinated aggregate beam scanning. Fig. 2 shows a plurality of UEs 110 and base stations 120. The plurality of UEs 110 and the base station 120 may include additional functions and interfaces that are omitted from fig. 2 for clarity. UE 110 includes an antenna 202, a radio frequency front end 204 (RF front end 204), and radio frequency transceivers (e.g., LTE transceiver 206 and 5G NR transceiver 208) for communicating with 5G RAN 141 and/or base station 120 in E-UTRAN 142. UE 110 includes one or more additional transceivers (e.g., local wireless network transceiver 210) for communicating with at least the coordinating UE and/or the target UE in the UE coordination set over one or more local wireless networks (e.g., WLAN, bluetooth, NFC, personal Area Network (PAN), wiFi-Direct, IEEE 802.15.4, zigBee, thread, mmWave). The RF front end 204 of the UE 110 can couple or connect the LTE transceiver 206, the 5G NR transceiver 208, and the local wireless network transceiver 210 to the antenna 202 to facilitate various types of wireless communications.

Antenna 202 of UE 110 may include an array of multiple antennas configured similar or different from each other. Antenna 202 and RF front end 204 can be tuned and/or tunable to one or more frequency bands defined by 3GPP LTE and 5G NR communication standards and implemented by LTE transceiver 206 and/or 5G NR transceiver 208. In addition, antenna 202, RF front end 204, LTE transceiver 206, and/or 5G NR transceiver 208 may be configured to support beamforming for transmission and reception of communications with base station 120. By way of example and not limitation, antenna 202 and RF front end 204 can be implemented for operation in sub-gigahertz bands, sub-6 GHz bands, and/or above 6GHz bands, which bands are defined by 3GPP LTE and 5G NR communication standards. In addition, the RF front end 204 can be tuned to and/or tunable to one or more frequency bands defined and implemented by the local wireless network transceiver 210 to support transmission and reception of communications with other UEs in the UE coordination set over the local wireless network.

UE 110 includes sensor(s) 212 that can be implemented to detect various attributes, such as temperature, supplied power, power usage, battery status, and the like. As such, the sensor 212 may include any one or combination of a temperature sensor, a thermistor, a battery sensor, and a power usage sensor.

UE110 also includes a processor 214 and a computer-readable storage medium 216 (CRM 216). Processor 214 may be a single-core processor or a multi-core processor constructed of various materials such as silicon, polysilicon, high-K dielectric, copper, and the like. The computer-readable storage media described herein do not include a propagated signal. CRM 216 may include any suitable memory or storage device, such as Random Access Memory (RAM), static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), non-volatile RAM (NVRAM), read Only Memory (ROM), or flash memory, that may be used to store device data 218 for UE 110. Device data 218 includes user data, multimedia data, beamforming codebooks, applications, and/or an operating system of UE110 that may be executed by processor(s) 214 to enable user plane communication, control plane signaling, and user interaction with UE 110.

The CRM 216 also includes a beamforming manager 220. Alternatively or in addition, beamforming manager 220 may be implemented in whole or in part as hardware logic or circuitry that is integrated with or separate from other components of UE 110. In at least some aspects, the beamforming manager 220 configures the RF front end 204, the LTE transceiver 206, the 5G NR transceiver 208, and/or the local wireless network transceiver 210 to implement techniques for UE coordinated set beam scanning described herein.

The device diagram of the base station 120 shown in fig. 2 includes a single network node (e.g., a gNode B). The functionality of the base station 120 may be distributed across multiple network nodes or devices and may be distributed in any manner suitable for performing the functionality described herein. Base station 120 includes an antenna 252, a radio frequency front end 254 (RF front end 254), one or more LTE transceivers 256, and/or one or more 5G NR transceivers 258 for communicating with UE 110. The RF front end 254 of the base station 120 may couple or connect the LTE transceiver 256 and the 5G NR transceiver 258 to the antenna 252 to facilitate various types of wireless communications. The antenna 252 of the base station 120 may comprise an array of multiple antennas configured similar or different from each other. The antenna 252 and RF front end 254 can be tuned and/or tunable to one or more frequency bands defined by 3GPP LTE and 5GNR communication standards, and implemented by LTE transceiver 256 and/or 5GNR transceiver 258. In addition, antennas 252, RF front end 254, LTE transceiver 256, and/or 5G NR transceiver 258 may be configured to support beamforming, such as massive MIMO, for transmission and reception of communications with any UE 110 in a coordinated set of UEs.

The base station 120 also includes a processor(s) 260 and a computer-readable storage medium 262 (CRM 262). Processor 260 may be a single-core processor or a multi-core processor constructed of various materials such as silicon, polysilicon, high-K dielectric, copper, and the like. CRM 262 may include any suitable memory or storage device such as Random Access Memory (RAM), static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), non-volatile RAM (NVRAM), read Only Memory (ROM), or flash memory that may be used to store device data 264 for base station 120. Device data 264 includes network scheduling data, radio resource management data, beamforming codebooks, applications, and/or the operating system of base station 120, which may be executed by processor(s) 260 to enable communication with UE 110.

CRM 262 also includes base station manager 266. Alternatively or in addition, the base station manager 266 may be implemented in whole or in part as hardware logic or circuitry that is integrated with or separate from other components of the base station 120. In at least some aspects, base station manager 266 configures LTE transceiver 256 and 5G NR transceiver 258 for communication with UE110 and with a core network. Base station 120 includes an inter-base station interface 268, such as an Xn and/or X2 interface, which base station manager 266 configures to exchange user plane and control plane data between another base station 120 to manage communications of base station 120 with UE 110. The base station 120 includes a core network interface 270 that the base station manager 266 configures to exchange user plane and control plane data with core network functions and/or entities.

In some aspects, the user equipment 102 provides feedback to the base station 120 for beamforming of the 5G NR downlink. For example, beamforming for massive MIMO uses closed loop or beam index beamforming for the 5GNR downlink. Both base station 120 and UE 112 have copies of codebook 222 that include precoding matrices for beamforming with an index value (e.g., a precoding matrix indicator or PMI) associated with each precoding matrix. The codebook 222 can be stored in the CRM216 of the user device 102 and in the CRM 262 of the base station 120.

UE-coordinated set

Fig. 3 illustrates an example embodiment 300 for UE coordinated set beam scanning. The illustrated examples include a serving cell base station (base station 120), UE 111, UE 112, and UE 113. In an example, each UE illustrated in fig. 3 may have limited transmission signal quality, which may result in difficulty transmitting data to the base station 120. This may be due, at least in part, to the UE being near the cell edge of the base station 120 or the UE being in a transmission challenge location (e.g., basement, urban canyon, etc.) with a poor link budget. Each UE illustrated in fig. 3 may also or alternatively have limited received signal quality, which may be affected by cell edge transmission power of the base station 120, as well as multipath, signal interference from other transmitters or overhead wires, attenuation from weather or objects such as buildings, trees, etc.

Base station 120 can designate a set of UEs (e.g., UE 111, UE 112, and UE 113) to form a UE coordination set (e.g., UE coordination set 304) for joint transmission and/or joint reception of data for a target UE (e.g., UE 112). Based on user input or predefined settings, each of the UEs may choose to participate in or not participate in the UE coordination set. The effective transmit power of the target UE 112 can increase significantly (e.g., linearly) with the number of UEs in the coordinated set of UEs, which can greatly increase the link budget of the target UE 112. The base station 120 may determine the UE coordination set based on various factors, such as the location of each UE relative to the base station 120, the distance between UEs (such as between each other, each UE and a target UE, or each UE and a coordinating UE in the UE coordination set), or a combination thereof. In some aspects, UEs within a certain distance from each other can more easily coordinate with each other to reduce signal interference when in close proximity by using a local wireless network.

Further, UE coordination can be based on spatial beams or timing advance or both associated with each UE. For example, for beamforming or massive-MIMO, it may be desirable for all UEs within a UE coordination set to be able to receive the same signal from a base station. Thus, all UEs within a UE coordination set may be geographically close to each other, e.g., within a threshold distance of a particular UE in the UE coordination set. In this way, UEs in the coordinated set of UEs may all be in the same beam or beams that are close to each other. Some (or even all) of the UEs within the UE coordination set may be in beams that are different from each other. Thus, each UE may have its own beam for communicating with the base station 120.

The coordinating UE is able to coordinate messages and samples sent between UEs within the UE coordination set for joint transmission and joint reception. The coordinating UE communicates with UEs in the UE coordination set using a local wireless network such as mmWave, bluetooth, etc.

In the example 300 illustrated in fig. 3, the base station 120 may select the UE 111 to act as a coordinating UE because the UE 111 is capable of communicating with each of the other UEs 112 and 113 in the UE coordination set 302. The base station 120 may select to coordinate the UE for various reasons, examples of which are described above. In this example, at least the target UE 112 has weak cellular transmission (and reception) signal quality. Base station 120 selects UE 111 as target UE 112 to coordinate messages and samples sent between base station 120 and UEs 111, 112, 113. Such communication between UEs can occur using a local wireless network 304 such as PAN, NFC, bluetooth, wiFi-direct, local mmWave link, etc.

The UEs 111, 112, 113 each attempt to perform a beam training procedure to identify an available UE beam 306 for communication with the base station 120. The available beams may include a "best" beam pair for the UE to receive (or transmit) beams and the base station to transmit (or receive) beams. The optimal beam pair refers to the beam pair having the largest signal strength among all potential beam pairs between the UE and the base station. The beam training process includes covering a spatial region with a set of beams transmitted and received according to a pre-specified interval and direction. In an example, each of the UEs 111, 112, 113 transmits a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) directionally in a time-varying direction of a continuous scan angle space in the mmWave band. Base station 120 scans its angular direction, monitors the strength of the received SRS, and builds a report table based on the channel quality for each of the received directions to capture the dynamics of the channel. Beam training also includes beam measurements (e.g., evaluations) of the quality of the received signal at the base station or UE.

Beam determination refers to selecting the appropriate beam(s) at the base station or at the UE based on measurements obtained using the beam measurement procedure. For example, the entity performing the beam determination analyzes the beam measurements representing the signal quality in each angular direction and matches the beams of the transmitter and receiver to provide maximum performance.

Beam reporting refers to the procedure used by the UE to send beam quality and beam decision information to the Radio Access Network (RAN). In one example, after beam determination, the UE waits for the base station to schedule a Random Access Channel (RACH) opportunity towards the best direction that the UE just determined for performing random access and implicitly informs the selected serving infrastructure of the best direction through which it must steer its beam in order to be properly aligned (or set of directions). In other words, the UE may use RACH transmission to transmit beam decision information (i.e., an indication of the best beam) to the base station.

For UE-initiated dedicated beam searching, the beam training procedure may include coordinating UE 111 to transmit a beam search request to base station 120, such as by transmitting the request in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection, a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer Information Element (IE), or other suitable manner. In response to receiving the beam search request, the base station 120 schedules a time when it can transmit a reference signal for dedicated beam search. Base station 120 transmits a beam search notification to coordinator UE 111. The beam search notification includes a time when a reference signal for dedicated beam search is to be transmitted. At a time determined by the base station 120, the base station 120 transmits reference signals for dedicated beam searching and coordinates the UE 111 to receive and evaluate the reference signals in the received beams. Coordinating UE 111 receives and evaluates the reference signals in the received beams by estimating channel conditions for each received reference signal. Based on the channel condition estimates, coordinating UE 111 selects the best precoding matrix from the codebook for the beamformed 5G NR communication link with base station 120 and beamreports (e.g., sends PMI for the precoding matrix) to base station 120.

For group beam training (e.g., by multiple UEs in the UE coordination set 302), when the base station 120 supports only analog beamforming, each UE in the group attempts to perform beam training using Time Division Multiplexing (TDM). However, if the base station 120 is capable of supporting multiple transmit or receive beams simultaneously, multiple UEs can be beam trained simultaneously.

Thus, through the beam training procedure and the beam reporting procedure, signals are transmitted between one or more of the UEs 111, 112, 113 and the base station 120, such that the base station 120 can determine which UE beam 306 is available (or optimal) for at least one UE in the UE coordination set 302. Based on this information, the base station 120 can allocate a particular beam and slot for one or more UEs within the UE coordination set 302. Alternatively or additionally, the base station 120 can relay this information to the coordinating UE 111 to enable the coordinating UE 111 to coordinate which UE uses which beam in which slot for joint transmission or reception by the UE coordination set 302. As described in further detail below, this beam information is then used to coordinate beam scanning by the various UEs 111, 112, 113 within the UE coordination set 302.

Joint transmission

The UE coordination set 302 enhances the target UE's efficient ability to transmit data to and receive data from the base station 120 through the distributed antennas that typically act as the target UE 112. For example, multiple UEs in the coordinated UE coordination set 302 each transmit uplink data from the target UE 112 using their respective antennas and transmitters on air interface resources as directed by the base station 120 of the coordinated UE coordination set 302. In this way, uplink data of the target UE can be processed and transmitted together using the transmitters and transmit antennas of multiple (including all) UEs in the UE coordination set 302.

In an example, target UE 112 uses its local wireless network transceiver 210 to transmit uplink data to coordinating UE 111 using local wireless network connection 134. Coordinating UE 111 uses its local wireless network transceiver 210 to distribute data to other UEs in UE coordination set 302 using local wireless network connections 134 and 135 to combine the power from the power amplifiers of the multiple UEs. In some instances, target UE 112 may act as a coordinating UE such that target UE 112 uses local wireless network connections 133 and 134 to distribute data to other UEs (UE 111 and UE 113) in UE coordination set 302. All UEs (or a subset of all UEs) in the coordinated set of UEs 302 then process the uplink data using the wireless link 130 and transmit it to the base station 120. In this manner, distributed transmission provides a better effective link budget given the channel impairments encountered by the target UE 112.

Each UE in the coordinated set of UEs 302 is synchronized with the base station 120 for timing information and its data transmission resource allocation. The UE then jointly transmits the uplink data to the base station 120. The base station 120 receives the jointly transmitted uplink data from the UEs 111, 112, 113 and processes the combined signal to decode the uplink data from the target UE 112.

Coordinated beam scanning

UEs within the UE coordination set coordinate beam scanning configurations for downlink data and uplink data. In aspects, different UEs within a coordinated set of UEs can transmit (or receive) on different time slots for beamforming. Here, the UEs coordinate with each other as to which beam and which slot are used for joint transmission. The coordination occurs after each UE 111, 112, 113 in the UE coordination set 302 has performed a beam training procedure and a beam reporting procedure to identify one or more beams available for communication with the base station 120. By reporting beams to the base station 120, UEs within the UE coordination set 302 indicate to the base station 120 which beam is optimal based on the beam measurements. In one aspect, the UE uses conventional beam reporting methods to directly beam report to the base station 120. In another aspect, the UE performs beam reporting to the coordinating UE 111, the UE 111 then transmits the beam reports for all UEs within the UE coordination set 302 as a whole (e.g., the coordinating UE 111 combines the beam reports for multiple UEs into a single beam report transmission to the base station 120, which may reduce signaling overhead), or forwards each beam report one by one as a relay. Because the beam training and beam reporting procedures have been performed by each UE 111, 112, 113, the base station 120 is able to determine which beam(s) each UE should use to communicate with the base station 120.

In one example, coordinating UE111 performs beam scanning coordination for UE coordination set 302. The coordinating UE111 determines which beam and which slot the UEs 112, 113 (including themselves) in the UE coordination set 302 should use to jointly communicate with the base station 120. Base station 120 can provide coordinated UE111 with beam and slot information for each UE within UE coordination set 302.

Alternatively, the base station 120 can coordinate beam scanning for the UE coordination set 302. In some aspects, base station 120 is able to do so without coordinating assistance by UE 111. For example, the base station 120 can transmit the time slots and beam identifications (beam IDs) directly to the corresponding UEs within the coordinated set of UEs 302. By specifying each beam that each UE within the UE coordination set 302 should use and the time slots of its specified beam that each UE should use, the base station 120 or coordinating UE111 coordinates beam scanning of the UE coordination set 302 for joint communication with the base station 120, thereby improving the link budget. In some examples, at least one of the UEs may be blocked such that no beam is available to that UE to communicate with the base station 120 (e.g., the available beam is blocked by an object such as a user's body, a vehicle, a building, etc.). By using the UE coordination set, multiple other UEs can help transmit or receive data for blocked UEs, and some of these UEs can communicate with the base station 120 using one or more different beams.

The beam ID may be a unique identifier for a particular beam of a particular UE within the coordinated set of UEs 302. Further, the beam IDs may be unique within the UE coordination set, such that other UE coordination sets may use (sets of) non-overlapping beam IDs. In some aspects, the beam ID may correspond to two or more UEs within the coordinated set of UEs that are assigned different time slots. However, two or more UEs in the UE coordination set may be allocated the same time slot but with different beam IDs. The base station 120 can assign a beam ID to a particular UE. In some aspects, base station 120 also provides coordinating UE 111 with a beam ID for a particular UE to enable coordinating UE 111 to coordinate beam scanning within UE coordination set 302. Alternatively, coordinating UE 111 can assign a beam ID to a UE within UE coordination set 302.

In an example, the UEs 111, 112, 113 within the UE coordination set 302 can have copies of the same codebook that include precoding matrices for beamforming with an index value (e.g., a precoding matrix indicator or PMI) associated with each precoding matrix in the codebook. In addition, UEs 111, 112, 113 can share the same codebook index for beamforming or uplink. However, the beam ID can be unique and specific to each UE within the UE coordination set 302. Although multiple UEs share the same codebook index, they may be assigned different beam IDs, which correspond to different slots for the beam. For example, UE 111 can transmit at a first time slot using a first beam 310 identified by a first beam ID to use a first beam direction 312, and UE 113 can transmit at a second, different time slot using the first beam direction 312 using a second beam 314 identified by a second, different beam ID. Thus, multiple UEs can use the same beam direction, but transmit in different time slots.

In another example, the UE 112 can use the third beam 316 identified by the third beam ID to transmit in a different beam direction 318. Two UEs (e.g., UE 111 and UE 113) may be in a radial line relative to base station 210 and in a position using the same beam direction (e.g., first beam direction 312), but one of the UEs (e.g., UE 113) may be blocked by an object such as a building (e.g., dashed object 320). If the first beam direction 312 is blocked for the UE 113, the UE 113 may use the fourth beam 322 identified by the fourth beam ID to transmit in another beam direction 324 for transmission. In some aspects, this fourth beam direction 324 may be the same direction as the third beam direction 318, but the UE 113 may use the fourth beam direction 324, which may reflect off just another object (e.g., building 326) to reach the base station 120, effectively bypassing the blocking object 320.

Within the UE coordination set 302, different UEs 111, 112, 113 with different beam IDs and assigned slots corresponding to the beam IDs may carry the same or different information. For example, while the UE may transmit data on different time slots with different beams (each beam ID having an assigned time slot), the UE may transmit the same information. Thus, if a UE (e.g., target UE 112) has data to transmit to base station 120, multiple UEs in UE coordination set 302 can repeat the same data at different time slots using different beams. Such coordinated transmission can greatly improve the link budget, for example, through diversity and energy combining. The link budget is also increased by encoding UEs carrying different information. For example, multiple UEs can transmit redundancy versions of particular encoded information to the base station 120.

In some aspects, multiple UEs in a coordinated set of UEs are capable of beam scanning simultaneously. For example, UEs may transmit simultaneously (at the same time slot), but each UE may have its own beam direction. Accordingly, one beam ID may correspond to a set of UEs transmitting simultaneously, where each UE transmits in a particular beam direction (e.g., a single beam ID corresponds to both UE 111 and UE 112, where UE 111 transmits in beam direction 312 in the same time slot as UE 112 transmits in beam direction 316). Alternatively, a single beam ID may refer to a set of multiple UE beams having the same angular direction but different time slots (e.g., a single beam ID corresponds to UE 111 and UE 113 transmitting in beam direction 312 using beams 310 and 314, respectively, in different time slots).

In one example, coordinating UE 111 can designate a set of UEs and their associated beams for the corresponding beam IDs. Alternatively, the base station 120 can designate a set of UEs and their associated beams. In these examples, the beam ID may correspond to a set of UE IDs and corresponding beam pairs. For example, a particular beam ID may correspond to a set of UEs within the coordinated set of UEs 302 that transmit simultaneously (e.g., in the same time slot), where each UE has its own associated beam.

Different UEs may reach the base station using different beam directions based on relative locations or interfering objects. Operating together within the UE coordination set 302 for joint transmission or reception provides diversity, increases link budget, and can help facilitate communication between a base station and blocked UEs.

In addition, different UEs may have different beamforming capabilities. In one example, a first UE within a UE coordination set may support eight indices within a codebook and a second UE within the UE coordination set may support 64 indices within the same codebook. In fig. 3, for example, coordinating UE 111 is illustrated as having (a subset of) eight beams 306-1, each beam 306-1 having an approximately 45 degree beamwidth, which corresponds to eight indices of a table in a codebook. However, the UE 112 may include 64 indexes and thus 64 narrower beams 306-2, each beam having a beam width of approximately 360/64 degrees. In this example, UE 112 is more "capable" of beamforming than coordinator UE 111 because UE 112 has more beams 306-2 and those beams 306-2 have a narrower beamwidth than beam 306-1 of coordinator UE 111.

Because different UEs within the UE coordination set 302 may have different beamforming capabilities, it is beneficial to coordinate the specific beamforming capabilities of each UE in the UE coordination set 302 by the UE 111 and/or the base station 120. The beamforming capability information can be transmitted to the base station 120 or coordinating UE 111 at any suitable time and through any suitable communication as part of a beam training process or as part of a beam report prior to requesting joint transmission or reception. In one example, one or more UEs may communicate beamforming capability information in "UE capability" as defined by 3GPP to base station 120. UEs within the UE coordination set 302 can communicate their respective beamforming capabilities to the coordinating UE 111 through the local wireless network 302 at the time the UE coordination set 302 is formed or at any suitable time prior to coordinating beam scanning. Coordinating UE 111 is able to relay beamforming capability information to base station 120 using wireless link 130. In some instances, at least some UEs in the coordinated set of UEs 302 are able to communicate their respective beamforming capability information directly to the base station 120 using the wireless link 130 at any suitable time prior to coordinated beam scanning. The beamforming capability information enables a coordinating UE or base station to better coordinate beamforming for UEs within a UE coordination set for joint communication with the base station.

In one example, UEs transmitting in different time slots have independent beam IDs such that those UEs can transmit with different beamforming capabilities without constraining down the lower capabilities of a more powerful UE (e.g., UE 112 with 64 beam capabilities) to another UE (e.g., UE 111 with 8 beam capabilities) in the UE coordination set 302.

The beamforming capabilities of the UE are combined when the UE performs beamforming in the same time slot. Here, the beam ID may correspond to the beam pair for the group of UEs (e.g., beam 310 for coordinating UE 111 and beam 316 for UE 112) because they are assigned the same time slot. Thus, if the UE is transmitting during the same time slot, combining the 64-beam capable UE 112 and the 8-beam capable coordinator UE 111 produces 512 possible beam IDs. In another example, the 64-capable UE 112 may be on a narrower beam or a better link budget beam than the coordinating UE 111, but the base station 120 may still have the ability to add the transmitted samples together regardless of the beam. This is because the base station 120 processes transmissions on a bit-by-bit or symbol-by-symbol basis.

When a UE in the UE coordination set 302 leaves the UE coordination set 302, the UE may notify the coordination UE 111 that it is about to leave using the local wireless network connection. This information enables coordinating UE 111 to modify the coordination of beam scanning by removing the UE from UE coordination set 302. Alternatively, coordinating UE 111 may direct the UE away from UE coordination set 302. If another UE joins the UE coordination set 302, the coordination UE may request that it perform a beam training procedure to identify beams to be used to join the joint communication with the base station 120. If there is an existing single beam ID of the set of UEs in the UE coordination set 302 when another UE joins, the coordination UE 111 or the base station 120 may provide the new UE with a new beam ID (after it performs its own beam training procedure and beam reporting procedure) that is unique to the new UE.

Example procedure

Fig. 4 depicts a signaling and transaction diagram 400 illustrating exemplary communications between a target UE, a coordinating UE, and a base station for coordinating beam scanning in a coordinated set of UEs. The target UE may be UE 112 as previously described, the coordinating UE may be UE 111 as previously described, the UE coordination set may be UE coordination set 302 as previously described, and the base station may be base station 120 as previously described. At 405, base station 120 sends a message to coordinating UE 111 requesting coordinating UE 111 to join the UE coordination set. The base station 120 may also send similar messages to other UEs, such as UE 112, to request those UEs to join the UE coordination set 302 at 410. In addition, at 415, base station 120 directs UE 111 to act as a coordinating UE for coordinating beam scanning for joint communications between UEs within the UE coordination set and base station 120. The UE coordination set includes the coordination UE, the target UE (source of uplink data), and optionally, may include at least one additional UE.

At 420, target UE 112 may send uplink data or an indication of uplink data to coordinator UE 111 for joint transmission of the uplink data to the base station. The indication of uplink data may include information associated with the uplink data sufficient to enable the coordinating UE 111 to coordinate joint transmission of uplink data for UEs in the UE coordination set 302, such as a size of the data, an identification of the target UE 112, coding information, and the like. Alternatively, the base station 120 can send an indication to the coordinating UE 111 to coordinate joint reception of uplink data for the target UE 112 at 425. The indication of the downlink data may include information including an identification of the target UE 112, a size of the data, timing information, decoding information, and the like.

At 430, coordinating UE 111 provides a message to other UEs within UE coordination set 302 over the local wireless network connection to direct the UEs to perform a beam training procedure to identify beams for joint communication with base station 120. Coordinating UE 111 can coordinate the timing of the beam training process based on time division multiplexing techniques using messages to other UEs. Each UE 111, 112, 113 in the coordinated set 302 of UEs attempts to perform a beam training procedure to determine an available (or best) beam for transmission to the base station 120 or reception from the base station 120. However, some UEs in the UE coordination set 302 may not reach the base station 120, e.g., due to low signal quality or blocking objects. For example, for joint transmission of uplink data, target UE 112 attempts to perform beam training procedure 435 and coordinator UE 111 also performs beam training procedure 440, wherein each beam training procedure includes directional transmission of sounding reference signals in a time-varying direction of continuous scan angle space in the mmWave frequency band. Alternatively, for joint reception of downlink data, the beam training procedures 435 and 440 may include listening and measuring the signal quality (indicated by the dashed lines) of the signals transmitted by the base station 120.

At this point, the process branches to fig. 5 or 6 based on which entity coordinates beam scanning of the UE coordination set 302. Fig. 5 depicts beam sweep coordination for base station 120. However, fig. 6 depicts beam scan coordination for coordinating UE 111.

Continuing with the exemplary process at fig. 5, UE 112 (in this example, target UE 112) and one or more other UEs in UE coordination set 302 perform beam reporting to coordination UE 111 at 505. This may be beneficial in situations where the target UE 112 has no beams available for communication with the base station 120 due to low signal quality or blocking objects. Coordinating UE 111 receives beam report information from target UE 112 (and one or more other UEs within UE coordination set 302) over a local wireless network connection. The information may include the results of a beam training procedure performed by the UE. The result may include a precoding matrix for each UE for beamforming the 5G NR communication link with the base station. Alternatively, UE 112 may report the beam directly to base station 120 at 510.

At 515, coordinating UE 111 performs beam reporting to base station 120. In some aspects, the beam report includes a set of beam report information from all UEs in the coordinated set of UEs that the beam report to the coordinating UE 111. However, if the UEs in the UE coordination set 302 do beam reporting directly to the base station 120, the coordination UE 111 transmits only its own beam report at 515.

Based on the beam reporting information received from the UE coordination set 302, the base station 120 determines an available (or best) beam for communication with UEs in the UE coordination set 302 at 520. Then, at 525, the base station 120 assigns one or more beam IDs and one or more time slots to each UE in the coordinated set of UEs 302 based on the determination of the available beams for coordinating beam scanning of the coordinated set of UEs 302.

At 530, base station 120 transmits the beam ID and the assigned time slot to coordinating UE 111 to coordinate beam scanning of UE coordination set 302 and allow coordinating UE 111 to distribute the beam ID and time slot to other UEs in UE coordination set 302. At 530, base station 120 transmits the beam ID and assigned time slot of the coordinating UE to coordinating UE 111. In some embodiments, the base station transmits the beam ID of the target UE and the assigned time slot directly and individually to the target UE 112, as illustrated at 535. Alternatively, as illustrated at 540, coordinator UE 111 distributes the beam ID and allocates the time slot to UE(s) 112, wherein coordinator UE 111 receives the beam ID of the UE(s) and allocates the time slot (with the coordinator UE's beam ID and allocated time slot) at 535.

After UEs in the UE coordination set 302 have their respective beam IDs and assigned slots, those UEs are able to initiate uplink communications (e.g., transmission of uplink data). For example, target UE 112 transmits UL data using a first beam corresponding to the beam ID and assigned time slot of the target UE at 545, and coordinating UE 111 transmits uplink data using a second beam corresponding to the beam ID and assigned time slot of the coordinating UE at 550. Alternatively, for joint reception of downlink data, the base station 120 transmits the downlink data to each UE in the UE coordination set 302 having a beam ID and an assigned time slot using the corresponding beam ID and assigned time slot at 555. Here, both the coordinating UE 111 and the target UE 112 perform downlink communication (e.g., reception of downlink data).

Returning to the branch in fig. 4, if coordinating UE 111 coordinates beam scanning of UE coordination set 302, the process continues to fig. 6. Similar to that described with reference to fig. 5, the UE (including target UE 112) performs beam reporting to coordinator UE 111 at 505. At 510, coordinating UE 111 beam reports beam reporting information from other UEs (including itself) in UE coordination set 302 to base station 120 to enable base station 120 to determine available time slots. At 605, base station 120 transmits UE coordination set beam information to coordination UE 111. The information includes available time slots for communication with the UEs and available beams for each UE.

At 610, coordinating UE 111 coordinates the beams of UE coordination set 302 by specifying a beam ID and assigned time slots for each UE within UE coordination set 302. In aspects, coordinating UE 111 determines a beam ID and an assigned time slot for each UE based on information received from base station 120 indicating available beams and available time slots. The beam ID and slot direct each UE to use a particular beam at a designated slot. As described above, at least two UEs can have different allocated time slots and/or at least two UEs can be allocated the same time slot. As further described above, the beam IDs may be unique to individual UEs within the UE coordination set, and/or the beam IDs may correspond to two or more UEs within the UE coordination set that are assigned different time slots.

At 615, coordinating UE 111 can transmit coordinating beam information to base station 120 to inform base station 120 of the beam IDs and assigned time slots for each UE in UE coordination set 302. Similar to that described with reference to fig. 5, coordinating UE 111 also transmits a beam ID and an assigned time slot to a corresponding UE (including target UE 112) within the UE coordination set over the local wireless network connection at 540 to coordinate joint communication with base station 120.

After each UE in the coordinated set of UEs 302 has their respective beam IDs and assigned slots, each UE is able to initiate joint transmission of uplink data. For example, target UE 112 transmits UL data using a first beam corresponding to the beam ID and assigned time slot of the target UE at 545, and coordinating UE 111 transmits uplink data using a second beam corresponding to the beam ID and assigned time slot of the coordinating UE at 550. Alternatively, for joint reception of downlink data, the base station 120 uses the beam corresponding to each beam ID and assigned time slot at 555 to transmit downlink data to each UE in the UE coordination set 302 having a beam ID and assigned time slot.

Example method

Exemplary methods 700 and 800 are described with reference to fig. 7 and 8 in accordance with one or more aspects of user equipment coordinated set beam scanning. The order in which the method blocks are described is not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described method blocks can be skipped or combined in any order to implement a method or alternative method. In general, any of the components, modules, methods, and operations described herein can be implemented using software, firmware, hardware (e.g., fixed logic circuitry), manual processing, or any combination thereof. Some operations of the example methods may be described in the general context of executable instructions stored on computer-readable storage memory local and/or remote to a computer processing system, and embodiments can include software applications, programs, functions, and the like. Alternatively or additionally, any of the functions described herein may be performed, at least in part, by one or more hardware logic components, such as, but not limited to, a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an Application Specific Standard Product (ASSP), a system on a chip (SoC), a Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD), or the like.

Fig. 7 illustrates an example method 700 in accordance with aspects of user equipment coordinating aggregate beam scanning. In an embodiment, the user equipment performs operations included in method 700, such as coordinating UE (e.g., UE 111) in the various examples described with reference to fig. 1-6.

At 705, the ue receives an indication of coordinated beam scanning with a UECS. For example, the coordinating UE (e.g., UE 111) receives an indication from the base station (e.g., base station 120) to coordinate joint reception of downlink data for the target UE, as depicted at 425 of fig. 4. Upon receiving an indication of coordinated joint reception, the coordinating UE implicitly identifies it as an indication of coordinated beam scanning. Alternatively or additionally, the coordinating UE (e.g., UE 111) receives uplink data from the target UE (e.g., UE 112) for joint transmission, as described at 420 of fig. 4, and identifies it as an implicit indication of coordinated joint transmission. Thus, the coordinating UE is able to receive an implicit indication of coordinated beam scanning by receiving an indication of coordinated joint reception and/or coordinated joint transmission. In an embodiment, the UE coordination set includes a plurality of UEs including a coordinating UE.

At 710, the UE directs each UE in the UECS over a local wireless network connection to perform a beam training procedure that includes receiving a set of downlink beam transmissions from a base station that cover a spatial region according to a pre-specified time interval and direction. For illustration, the coordinating UE (e.g., UE 111) directs each UE (e.g., UE 112, UE 113) to perform a beam training process as described at 430 of fig. 4. The beam training process can include each UE receiving the set of downlink beam transmissions or a portion of the downlink transmissions and generating a beam report regarding the downlink beam transmissions. Alternatively or additionally, the beam training process can include each UE transmitting one or more uplink beam transmissions, such as one or more sounding reference signals described with reference to fig. 3. Thus, as each UE is directed to perform a beam training procedure, the coordinating UE directs each UE to receive (and measure) a set of downlink transmissions and/or generate a set of uplink transmissions.

At 715, the ue forwards beam report information including beam quality information based on the beam training procedure to the base station. For example, the coordinating UE (e.g., UE 111) forwards the first beam report generated by the coordinating UE, such as described at 515 of fig. 5. In other words, the coordinating UE generates a coordinating user equipment beam report based on the at least one downlink beam transmission and transmits the coordinating user equipment beam report to the base station using the wireless network connection. Alternatively or additionally, the coordinating UE forwards beam reports from other UEs, such as described at 505 of fig. 5. For example, the coordinating UE receives at least a second beam report based on the set of downlink beam transmissions from another UE and transmits the second beam report to the base station over the wireless network connection.

At 720, the ue receives an indication of one or more beam identities and one or more allocated time slots from a base station over a wireless network connection. For example, coordinating UE (e.g., UE 111) receives beam identification and/or assigned time slots, as described at 530 of fig. 5.

At 725, the UE directs at least two UEs in the UECS to use a particular beam indicated by the one or more beam identities at a particular time slot indicated by the one or more allocated time slots, such as transmitting a respective one of the one or more beam identities and a respective one of the one or more allocated time slots to each of the at least two UEs over the local wireless network connection. For example, the coordinating UE (e.g., UE 111) forwards the beam identification and assigned time slots to each UE over the local wireless network to direct at least two UEs (e.g., UE 112) to use a particular beam, as described at 540 of fig. 5 and/or 6. The coordinating UE directs the UE to perform joint reception and/or joint transmission while forwarding the corresponding beam identity and corresponding allocated time slots, such as described at 545 and/or 555 of fig. 5 and 6.

Fig. 8 illustrates an exemplary method 800 in accordance with aspects of UE coordination of aggregate beam scanning. In an embodiment, a base station performs operations included in method 800, such as the base station (e.g., base station 120) described in various examples with reference to fig. 1-6.

At 805, the base station transmits an indication of coordinated beam scanning with the UECS to a coordinating UE in the UECS. For example, the base station (e.g., base station 120) transmits the indication to the coordinating UE (e.g., UE 111), as depicted at 425 of fig. 4.

At 810, the base station transmits a set of downlink beam transmissions covering a spatial region according to a pre-specified time interval and direction. For example, a base station (e.g., base station 120) transmits a downlink beam transmission set to a coordinating UE (e.g., UE 111) and/or other UEs (e.g., UE 112) in a user equipment coordination set, as described at 435 and 440 of fig. 4.

At 815, the base station receives beam reporting information from the UECs, the beam reporting information indicating beam quality information for at least two UEs in the UECs, the beam quality information based on the downlink beam transmission set. For example, as depicted at 515 of fig. 5, a base station (e.g., base station 120) receives a beam report (e.g., coordinated user equipment beam report) from a coordinating UE (e.g., 111). Alternatively or additionally, the base station (e.g., base station 120) receives beam reports from other UEs (e.g., UE 112), as depicted at 510 of fig. 5.

At 820, the base station selects one or more beam identities that specify particular beams to be used by at least two UEs based on the beam reporting information. For example, a base station (e.g., base station 120) determines the beams available to a UE (e.g., UE 111, UE 112) as described at 525 of fig. 5. Similarly, at 825, the base station selects one or more slots that specify particular slots to be used by at least two UEs based on the beam report information. For illustration, as depicted at 525 of fig. 5, a base station (e.g., base station 120) determines time slot(s) for a UE (e.g., UE 111, UE 112). In some embodiments, to determine the time slot(s) and the beam identification, the base station receives beamforming capability information for one or more user devices in a coordinated set of user devices, such as from the coordinating user device, and selects the time slot and the beam identification based on the beamforming capability information. For example, the base station can select a time slot and beam identification compatible with the beamforming capabilities of each UE in the coordinated set of user equipment.

The base station determines any combination of time slots and beam identities. For example, a base station sometimes selects a first time slot for a first user equipment in a coordinated set of user equipment and a different at least a second time slot for a second user equipment in the coordinated set of user equipment. In selecting the beam identities, the base station sometimes selects a first beam identity for the first user equipment and at least a second beam identity for the second user equipment, wherein the first beam identity corresponds to a first beam direction and the second beam identity corresponds to a second beam direction. At other times, the base station selects the same beam identity for each user device in the coordinated set of user devices, where the same beam identity corresponds to the same beam direction. As another example, the base station selects the same time slot for at least two user devices in the coordinated set of user devices and selects different beam identities for the at least two user devices.

Alternatively or additionally, to determine the time slot and the beam identity, the base station receives a set of uplink beam transmissions from at least some of the coordinated set of user equipment and generates uplink beam measurements for the set of uplink beam transmissions. The base station then determines one or more time slots and one or more beam identities based on the uplink beam measurements.

At 830, the base station directs the at least two UEs to use the particular beam at the particular time slot by transmitting one or more beam identifications and an indication of the one or more time slots to the at least two UEs. For example, as depicted at 530 of fig. 5, a base station (e.g., base station 120) transmits an indication of the beam identity and time slot to a coordinating UE (e.g., UE 111). Alternatively or additionally, a base station (e.g., base station 120) transmits respective beam identities of the one or more beam identities and respective indications of respective time slots of the one or more time slots directly to each UE in the AECS, as depicted at 535 of fig. 5.

In general, any of the components, methods, and operations described herein can be implemented using software, firmware, hardware (e.g., fixed logic circuitry), manual processing, or any combination thereof. Some operations of the example methods may be described in the general context of executable instructions stored on computer-readable storage memory local and/or remote to a computer processing system, and embodiments can include software applications, programs, functions, and the like. Alternatively or additionally, any of the functions described herein can be performed, at least in part, by one or more hardware logic components, such as, but not limited to, a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an Application Specific Standard Product (ASSP), a system on a chip (SoC), a Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD), or the like.

Although the techniques and apparatus for UE-coordinated aggregate beam scanning have been described in language specific to features and/or methods, it is to be understood that the subject of the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or methods described. Rather, the specific features and methods are disclosed as example embodiments capable of UE-coordinated set beam scanning.

In the following, several examples are described:

example 1: a method performed by a user equipment for beamforming joint communication between a base station and a plurality of user equipments in a coordinated set of user equipments, the method comprising: receiving an indication to coordinate beam scanning with a user equipment coordination set; in response to receiving the indication to coordinate beam scanning, directing each user device in the coordinated set of user devices to perform a beam training procedure over the local wireless network connection, the beam training procedure comprising receiving a set of downlink beam transmissions covering the spatial region from the base station according to a pre-specified time interval and direction; based on the beam training process, forwarding beam report information indicating beam quality information to the base station through the wireless network connection; receiving, over a wireless network connection, from a base station, an indication of one or more beam identities and one or more allocated time slots in response to forwarding the beam report information; and transmitting, over the local wireless network connection, respective ones of the one or more beam identities and respective ones of the one or more allocated time slots to each of the at least two user devices, the at least two user devices in the coordinated set of user devices to use the particular beam indicated by the one or more beam identities at the particular time slot indicated by the one or more allocated time slots.

Example 2: the method of example 1, wherein transmitting the respective beam identities comprises: transmitting a first beam identity to a first user equipment of the at least two user equipments and transmitting at least a second beam identity to a second user equipment of the at least two user equipments, wherein the first beam identity corresponds to a first beam direction and the second beam identity corresponds to a second beam direction; or transmitting the same beam identity to each of the at least two user devices, wherein the same beam identity corresponds to the same beam direction.

Example 3: the method of example 1 or example 2, wherein transmitting the respective time slot to each of the at least two user devices comprises: transmitting a first allocated time slot to a first user equipment of at least two user equipments and transmitting a second, different allocated time slot to a second user equipment of the at least two user equipments; or transmitting the same time slot to each of the at least two user equipments.

Example 4: the method of any of examples 1-3, wherein forwarding beam report information to a base station further comprises: selecting, by the user equipment, a beam from a set of downlink beam transmissions; generating, by the user equipment, a first beam report comprising an indication of the selected beam; and transmitting a first beam report to the base station over the wireless network connection.

Example 5: the method of example 4, further comprising: receiving at least a second beam report from at least one user equipment in the coordinated set of user equipment based on the downlink beam transmission set; and through the wireless network connection, through: transmitting a second beam report to the base station separately from the first beam report; or including the second beam report in the first beam report transmitted to the base station, transmitting at least the second beam report to the base station.

Example 6: the method of any of examples 1 to 5, wherein directing each user device in the coordinated set of user devices to perform a beam training procedure further comprises: each user equipment in the coordinated set of user equipments is directed to transmit uplink sounding reference signals in a pre-specified time-varying direction of the scan space region.

Example 7: the method of any of examples 1-6, wherein the one or more beam identities and the one or more allocated time slots correspond to one or more beam pairs, and the method further comprises: receiving, from a target user equipment in the coordinated set of user equipment, a second indication to transmit uplink communications to the base station; and directing at least one subset of user equipment in the coordinated set of user equipment to transmit uplink communications to the base station using one or more uplink beams based on the one or more beam pairs.

Example 8: a method performed by a base station for configuring beamforming joint communication between the base station and a plurality of user devices in a coordinated set of user devices, the method comprising: transmitting an indication to a coordinating user equipment in the user equipment coordination set to coordinate beam scanning with the user equipment coordination set; transmitting a set of downlink beam transmissions covering the spatial region according to a pre-specified time interval and direction; receiving beam reporting information from the coordinated set of user equipments, the beam reporting information indicating beam quality information of at least two user equipments in the coordinated set of user equipments, the beam quality information being based on the downlink beam transmission set; selecting one or more beam identities specifying particular beams to be used by at least two user equipments based on the beam reporting information; selecting one or more slots designating a specific slot to be used by at least two user equipments based on the beam reporting information; and directing the at least two user devices to use the particular beam at the particular time slot by transmitting one or more beam identifications and an indication of the one or more time slots to the at least two user devices.

Example 9: the method of example 8, further comprising: receiving beamforming capability information of one or more user devices in a coordinated set of user devices from a coordinating user device, and wherein selecting one or more beam identities further comprises: one or more beam identities are selected based on the beamforming capability information.

Example 10: the method of example 8 or example 9, wherein selecting one or more time slots comprises: selecting a first time slot for a first user equipment of the at least two user equipments and selecting a different at least second time slot for a second user equipment of the at least two user equipments; or the same time slot is selected for at least two user equipments.

Example 11: the method of example 10, wherein selecting one or more beam identities comprises: selecting a first beam identity for the first user equipment and at least a second beam identity for the second user equipment, wherein the first beam identity corresponds to a first beam direction and the second beam identity corresponds to a second beam direction; or selecting the same beam identity for at least two user equipments, wherein the same beam identity corresponds to the same beam direction.

Example 12: the method of any of examples 8 to 11, wherein selecting one or more beam identities and selecting one or more time slots further comprises: receiving a set of uplink beam transmissions from at least some of the coordinated set of user equipments; generating uplink beam measurements for a set of uplink beam transmissions; and selecting one or more beam identities and one or more time slots based on the uplink beam measurements.

Example 13: the method of any of examples 8 to 12, wherein directing at least two user devices to use a particular beam at a particular time slot further comprises: transmitting respective ones of the one or more beam identities and respective ones of the one or more time slots directly to each of the at least two user devices; or transmitting an indication of the selected one or more beam identities and one or more time slots to the coordinating user device for distribution to at least two user devices.

Example 14: a user equipment device, comprising: at least one wireless transceiver; a processor; and a computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, in response to execution by the processor, are to direct the user equipment device to use the at least one wireless transceiver to perform any of the methods as described in examples 1-7.

Example 15: a base station apparatus comprising: at least one wireless transceiver; a processor; and a computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, in response to execution by the processor, are to direct a base station apparatus to use at least one wireless transceiver to perform any of the methods as described in examples 8-13.

Example 16: a method performed by a user equipment for beamforming joint communication between a base station and a plurality of user equipments in a coordinated set of user equipments, the method comprising: receiving a message from a coordinating user device of a coordinating set of user devices over a local wireless network connection, the message directing the user device to perform a beam training process comprising: generating at least one uplink beam transmission according to a pre-designated time slot and direction; or generating a beam report on at least one downlink beam transmission and transmitting the beam report to a coordinating user equipment or base station; receiving a beam identification and an assigned time slot corresponding to a particular beam; by: transmitting uplink communications of the target user equipment in the coordinated set of user equipment to the base station using the particular beam, the joint communications being engaged using the particular beam; or receive downlink communications for the target user equipment from the base station using the particular beam.

Example 17: the method of example 16, wherein participating in the federated communication further comprises: receiving uplink data from the coordinating user device over the local wireless network connection; and transmitting uplink data using the specific beam.

Example 18: the method of example 16, wherein participating in the joint communication further comprises: receiving downlink signals from the base station using the specific beam; and transmitting the downlink signal to the coordinating user device using the local wireless network connection.

Example 19: the method of any of examples 16 to 18, wherein the beam training process further comprises: transmitting a beam report to a coordinating user device using a local wireless network connection; or transmit a beam report to the base station using the wireless network connection.

Example 20: the method of any one of examples 8 to 12, further comprising: directly receiving beamforming capability information of at least a second user device from at least the second user device in the coordinated set of user devices, and wherein selecting one or more beam identities and selecting one or more time slots further comprises: one or more beam identities and one or more time slots are selected based on the beamforming capability information of the second user equipment.

Example 21: a method performed by a user equipment for coordinating joint communications between a base station and a plurality of user equipments in a coordinated set of user equipments, the method comprising: receiving an indication to coordinate beam scanning with a user equipment coordination set; in response to receiving the indication to coordinate beam scanning, directing each user device in the coordinated set of user devices to perform a beam training procedure over the local wireless network connection, the beam training procedure comprising receiving a set of downlink beam transmissions covering the spatial region from the base station according to a pre-specified time interval and direction; based on the beam training process, forwarding beam report information to the base station through a wireless network connection; receiving user equipment coordinated set beam information from a base station over a wireless network connection in response to the forward beam report information; selecting one or more beam identities and one or more time slots that designate one or more particular beams based on the user equipment coordinated set beam information; and transmitting, to at least one user device in the coordinated set of user devices, a respective one of the one or more beam identities and a respective one of the one or more time slots over the local wireless network connection.

Example 22: the method of example 21, further comprising: the selected one or more beam identities and the selected one or more time slots are forwarded to the base station.

Example 23: the method of example 21 or example 22, further comprising: as part of the beam training process, each user device in the coordinated set of user devices is directed to transmit a set of uplink beam transmissions covering the spatial region according to a pre-specified time interval and direction.

Example 24: a method performed by a base station for coordinating joint communications between the base station and a plurality of user devices in a coordinated set of user devices, the method comprising: indicating to the coordinated user equipment in the user equipment coordinated set to coordinate beam scanning with the user equipment coordinated set; transmitting a set of downlink beam transmissions covering the spatial region according to a pre-specified time interval and direction; receiving, from one or more user devices in a coordinated set of user devices, beam reporting information based on a downlink beam transmission set; analyzing the beam reporting information to identify one or more possible beam identities and one or more possible time slots defining possible specific beams for joint communication; forwarding to the coordinating user device a first indication of one or more possible beam identities and one or more possible time slots; receiving a second indication of one or more selected beam identities and one or more selected time slots for the joint communication from a coordinating user equipment; by: transmitting downlink communications for a target user device in a coordinated set of user devices using one or more beams, processing joint communications using one or more beams specified by one or more selected beam identities and one or more selected time slots; or receive uplink communications from the target user equipment using one or more beams.

Example 25: the method of example 3, wherein transmitting the respective beam identities and the respective time slots further comprises: directing the first user equipment to use the first particular beam identified by the first beam identification and to jointly receive downlink communications in the first particular time slot identified by the first allocated time slot; and directing the second user equipment to jointly receive downlink communications using the second particular beam identified by the second beam identification and at the second particular time slot identified by the second allocated time slot.

Example 26: a computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, in response to execution by a processor, cause performance of the method of any one of examples 1-12 or examples 16-25.

Claims

1. A method performed by a user equipment for beamforming joint communication between a base station and a plurality of user equipments in a coordinated set of user equipments, the method comprising:

receiving an indication to coordinate beam scanning with the user equipment coordination set;

in response to receiving an indication to coordinate beam scanning, directing each user equipment in the coordinated set of user equipments to perform a beam training procedure over a local wireless network connection, the beam training procedure comprising receiving a set of downlink beam transmissions covering a spatial region from the base station according to a pre-specified time interval and direction;

Forwarding beam reporting information indicating beam quality information to the base station over a wireless network connection based on the beam training process;

receiving one or more beam identities and an indication of one or more allocated time slots from the base station over the wireless network connection in response to forwarding the beam report information; and

the at least two user equipments in the coordinated set of user equipments are directed to use a particular beam indicated by the one or more beam identities at a particular time slot indicated by the one or more allocated time slots by transmitting the respective beam identity of the one or more beam identities and the respective time slot of the one or more allocated time slots to each of the at least two user equipments over the local wireless network connection.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein forwarding the beam report information to the base station further comprises:

selecting, by the user equipment, a beam from the downlink beam transmission set;

generating, by the user equipment, a first beam report comprising an indication of the selected beam; and

the first beam report is transmitted to the base station over the wireless network connection.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving at least a second beam report from at least one user equipment in the coordinated set of user equipment based on the downlink beam transmission set; and

transmitting the at least second beam report to the base station over the wireless network connection by:

transmitting the second beam report to the base station separately from the first beam report; or alternatively

The second beam report is included in the first beam report transmitted to the base station.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the respective beam identities comprises:

transmitting a first beam identity to a first user equipment of the at least two user equipments and transmitting at least a second beam identity to a second user equipment of the at least two user equipments, wherein the first beam identity corresponds to a first beam direction and the second beam identity corresponds to a second beam direction; or alternatively

Transmitting the same beam identity to each of the at least two user equipments, wherein the same beam identity corresponds to the same beam direction.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting a respective time slot to each of the at least two user devices comprises:

transmitting a first allocated time slot to a first user equipment of the at least two user equipments and a second, different, allocated time slot to a second user equipment of the at least two user equipments; or alternatively

The same time slot is transmitted to each of the at least two user equipments.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein directing each user device in the coordinated set of user devices to perform the beam training procedure further comprises:

each user equipment in the coordinated set of user equipments is directed to transmit uplink sounding reference signals in a pre-specified time-varying direction of scanning the spatial region.

7. The method of any of claims 1-6, wherein the one or more beam identities and the one or more allocated time slots correspond to one or more beam pairs, and the method further comprises:

receiving, from a target user equipment in the coordinated set of user equipment, a second indication to transmit uplink communications to the base station; and

Based on the one or more beam pairs, at least one subset of user equipment in the coordinated set of user equipment is directed to transmit the uplink communication to the base station using one or more uplink beams.

8. A method performed by a base station for configuring beamforming joint communication between the base station and a plurality of user devices in a coordinated set of user devices, the method comprising:

transmitting an indication to a coordinating user equipment in the user equipment coordination set to coordinate beam scanning with the user equipment coordination set;

transmitting a set of downlink beam transmissions covering the spatial region according to a pre-specified time interval and direction;

receiving beam reporting information from the coordinated set of user equipments, the beam reporting information indicating beam quality information for at least two user equipments in the coordinated set of user equipments, the beam quality information being based on the downlink beam transmission set;

selecting one or more beam identities specifying particular beams to be used by the at least two user equipments based on the beam reporting information;

selecting one or more time slots to be used by the at least two user equipments based on the beam reporting information; and

The at least two user devices are directed to use a particular beam indicated by the one or more beam identities at a particular time slot indicated by the one or more time slots by transmitting an indication of the one or more beam identities and the one or more time slots to the at least two user devices.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein receiving the beam report information further comprises:

receiving a combined beam report from the coordinating user equipment in the coordinated set of user equipment, the combined beam report comprising respective beam quality information generated by each of the at least two user equipment in the coordinated set of user equipment; or alternatively

A respective beam report is received directly from each of the at least two user devices in the coordinated set of user devices, the respective beam report including the respective beam quality information generated by that user device.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein selecting the one or more time slots comprises:

selecting a first time slot for a first user equipment of the at least two user equipments and selecting a different at least second time slot for a second user equipment of the at least two user equipments; or alternatively

The same time slot is selected for the at least two user equipments.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein selecting the one or more beam identities comprises:

selecting a first beam identity for the first user equipment and at least a second beam identity for the second user equipment, wherein the first beam identity corresponds to a first beam direction and the second beam identity corresponds to a second beam direction; or alternatively

The same beam identity is selected for the at least two user equipments, wherein the same beam identity corresponds to the same beam direction.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein selecting the one or more beam identities and selecting the one or more time slots further comprises:

receiving a set of uplink beam transmissions from at least some of the coordinated set of user equipments;

generating uplink beam measurements for the set of uplink beam transmissions; and

the one or more beam identities and the one or more time slots are selected based on the uplink beam measurements.

13. The method of any of claims 8-12, wherein directing the at least two user devices to use the particular beam at the particular time slot further comprises:

Transmitting respective ones of the one or more beam identities and respective ones of the one or more time slots directly to each of the at least two user devices; or alternatively

The one or more beam identities and the indication of the one or more time slots are transmitted to the coordinating user device for distribution to the at least two user devices.

14. A user equipment device, comprising:

at least one wireless transceiver;

a processor; and

a computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, in response to execution by the processor, are for directing the user equipment device to perform the method of any of claims 1-7 using the at least one wireless transceiver.

15. A base station apparatus comprising:

at least one wireless transceiver;

a processor; and

a computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, in response to execution by the processor, are for directing the base station apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 8-13 using the at least one wireless transceiver.